Yes, I said a table for 7 adults and 14 children

When my sisters and I get together, there are a LOT of children. We all met at Dave and Busters recently and I can't begin to tell you how much fun we had. I won't bore you with details but I will bore you with pictures!

Santa came, he really came!

We were invited to a Christmas party just before the holidays. Little did the kids know, Santa was going to arrive not long after we did. Landon (5) was beside himself when the big guy walked in bearing gifts. And little Miss Peyton (2) wasted no time jumping on his lap.

He wants me to sparkle

I asked all of the children to make a Christmas list for Santa. Landon (6) jumped up quickly and grabbed the nearest piece of paper, eager to get his list compiled. He asked Keaton to do the writing as he did the listing. I was busy tidying things up so I walked in and out of the room, not paying attention to what he was saying but realizing he was saying a lot.

Finally he proudly handed me his extensive list. It read:

- pretty sparky shoes
- makeup
- pretty dress
- pretty scarf
- pretty jacket
- pretty sparkly purse
- Starbuck's gift card
- red sparkly scrunchy
- jewelry
- red sparkly (new) phone
- sparkly sunglasses
- sparkly belt
- car (pink)

I looked at the list and became immediately confused. "Landon, these items are for a girl. Where is your wish list?"

Landon: "I haven't made it yet."

Me: "Why? Who is this list for?"

Landon: "It's for you, Mom."

Me: "For me?"

Landon: "Yes ma'am, I wanted to make sure Santa brought you some presents too."

Me (completely humbled): "Oh Landon. That was so sweet of you. And look at the wonderful items you chose for me! They are perfect!" I listed off a few as he listened.

Landon (smiling so proudly): "Did you see the sparkly shoes? And the sparkly purse? And the sparkly sunglasses?"

Me: "I did! So perfect."

Landon: "Yeah, and Santa will bring you that stuff, mom, 'cause you really need to sparkle.

Loving them is the easy part; making sure they hear it takes some creativity

Keaton (12) this morning as I drove her to school: "Mom, we need to talk."

Me: "Okay."

Keaton (so serious): "You know yesterday when you dropped me off at school?"

Me: "Yes."

Keaton: "And when I was getting out of the car you said you loved me and told me I was beautiful?"

Me: "Yes."

Keaton (not happy with me): "Well don't do that any more because EVERYBODY heard."

Me: "Keaton, there was nobody around; we were the only ones there."

Keaton: "No, Mom. There was a boy in a Cowboy jacket whose mom had just dropped him off and he heard."

Me: "How do you know?"

Keaton: "Because when he walked by he smiled at me."

Me: "He smiled at you?

Keaton: "YES! So don't do that anymore because you TOTALLY embarrassed me!"

Me: "Okay, I'm sorry. But I do think you're beautiful and smart and funny and..."

Keaton (having lost all patience with me): "I know, Mom, just don't say it in front of anyone. Okay?!"

Me (knowing at this point I should really keep my mouth shut): "Okay."

As we pull up to her school she gets out of the car and opens the back door, this time I whisper my usual, "Bye beautiful girl! Have a wonderful day! I love you so much!"

Keaton, trying to stifle a smile whispers back, "Bye Mom. I love you" and rolls her eyes as she walks away.

Oh, the weather outside is...delightful!

After several weeks of frigid temperatures, yesterday was perfect for a picnic in the park and lots of playing. So many wiggles had to be gotten out.


























And ICE CREAM! How does the ice cream man always know the minute we pull up? And how does he know I'm such a sucker?!

























So much fun!

LOFT Contest: Yes, you need to enter!

I’m small potatoes in the world that is Blogger. I write about what’s important to me: my job, my kids, my life. I don’t venture into politics are give my opinions on anything very worldly. I focus on potty training, teen training, and the all too often “sharing-those-bodily-functions-with-others-is-just-plain-rude-young-man,” little boy training.

So you can imagine my surprise and utter elation when I was contacted by the cool ladies at BlogHer asking me to take part in a review of the LOFT store in Dallas and to host a contest. Click on through to my review blog for full details, including how to enter to win!

Six

silly
super
smart
strong
smiling
successful
sensitive
sneaky
sporty
stupendous
son

Happy 6th birthday Landon. You're my sweet boy.

I've got a lot of mileage...

...on my vehicle. I got it when it had something like 26 miles on it. And now it has 100,000 miles. I was so excited to see it hit the big number today that I took a picture with my phone camera. The cars behind me weren't impressed with my driving-while-taking-a-picture skills, but oh well. I've got little tiny pictures to note the big event.

Yes, I'm easily amused.

So I'm sitting here watching the Victoria's Secret fashion show...

...and I can't decide if I want to go work out, or finish the Godiva chocolate cheesecake someone bought me at lunch.

I'm thinking cheesecake.